An American Werewolf in London follows two college guys backpacking acrossed Europe. They’re in Northern Ireland and are warned to stick to the roads and off the moors, of course they don’t listen. They are attacked by a werewolf. One guy dies, the other lives only to carry the werewolf curse. Now the surviving guy must deal with the consequences. He sees his dead friend multiple times during the movie, each time in a different state of decay. He tells him that he must kill himself to put his soul at rest and end the bloodline of the werewolf. Naturally he thinks he’s crazy and doesn’t do it, which leads to even more deaths and visitors. Now he battles for his life and the literal beast within.
The acting in this is great! Griffin Dunn is an actor that deserves much more credit than he’s given. He plays Jack, the friend that dies. He’s comedic timing is great, he’s so sarcastic and irritated with David the werewolf friend. David Naughton plays David, he’s a likeable guy and you truly feel for him, but at the same time he’s a little frustrating because dude just off yourself bro. He falls in love with his nurse Alex, played by Jenny Agutter, she’s kind, funny and gorgeous. She truly falls for David and struggles with ending his curse as well.
The special effects, my lord what a masterpiece. This movie is from 1981 and still has the best transformation scene I’ve ever seen in a werewolf movie. Hands down, nothing touches it and that was proven when I saw The Howling 1.5 hours after this. You get the sense in this one that the transformation is incredibly painful. David Naughton acts his ass off in those scenes, the pain and grimacing on his face is gut wrenching. The transformation, the gore, the full body walking werewolf are all amazing!
If you haven’t seen this movie, then you need to like right now. It is a masterpiece of a werewolf movie. I can’t give this anything less than an A. It isn’t too long, the comedy is funny and the special effects are incredible. Still the top werewolf movie in my opinion.
